Luggage Brake No 422
The Dilemma
The Luggage Brake project takes its place amongst the 'new builds' and conversions becoming common on Heritage Railways. A couple of years ago, it became clear that the completion of Taff Vale No 73 was drawing near. A great deal of time and money had already been invested in its restoration, and it became obvious that recovering some of this from revenue was highly desirable. However, as a single, four-wheel, vintage carriage with no guard's facilities, it would not provide a viable passenger train. Even less attractive was the option of running it (or 'hiding it behind') a Mk 1 brake coach. On the other hand, there was no possibility of a vintage brake carriage becoming available within the foreseeable future.
The sketch that launched the project
A Solution
Out of this dilemma arose the solution of converting an otherwise unused vehicle that had started life as a goods brake van. This offered a number of benefits.
(1) Conversion would be relatively inexpensive.
(2) The conversion could include the ability to accommodate wheelchairs, giving wider access to the railway's Vintage Train.
(3) Most significantly, it would be available with the completed Taff Vale No 73.
The conversion was intended to convey the spirit of a 19th century vehicle once common on smaller railways. The style is that of builders of the time, such as Ashbury's, thereby in keeping with the lines of Taff Vale No 73. As well as disabled access, the vehicle offers an interpretation of the range of traffic carried on rural railway backwaters before Grouping.
Completing 422 has taken longer than expected, partly because of complications in the engineering, some existing faults had to be rectified, and partly because safety issues had to be addressed. Unfortunately, because it had been stored outside, some of the external panels were deteriorating and some remedial bodywork had to be done.
Finally
422 was cleared for railway use in June 2022, and is now used with Taff Vale no 73 on special occasions. At last we have a Vintage train – albeit small – but will be adding to this over the years as other projects are completed.
